LaCrosse Town Council president, businessman Justin Kiel seeks LP County Council seat

Newspaper publisher and LaCrosse Town Council President, Republican Justin Kiel, has announced his intention to run in the 2018 election for the District 1 seat on the LaPorte County Council.

“I have seen the need for stronger advocacy for Southern LaPorte County first hand,” Kiel said in a press release. “We frequently get overlooked by county government, and I intend to make sure that all of the citizens of District 1 are heard and well-represented.”

Despite his age, Kiel is an accomplished business owner and civic leader. In 2014, at the age of 17, he purchased The Regional News and the Westville Indicator. As publisher, he has overseen the award-winning weekly publications and business operations of half of the county’s periodicals. In 2015, at age 18, he was appointed to the LaCrosse Town Council and became the youngest known public official in the history of the State of Indiana. Later he was elected Council President and has entered his third year in that role.

During his time in office, Kiel has brought in nearly $200,000 in state and federal funds to complete a town-wide street resurfacing project finished in 2017, and a sidewalk improvement project that will make LaCrosse one of the first towns in the region to have 100% ADA compliant sidewalks. His sense of fiscal responsibility has allowed LaCrosse to continue to be a community with one of the lowest debt-to-savings ratios in the region.

Already involved on a regional level, Kiel is an Executive Board Member for the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC), where he approved a $1.57 billion Transportation Improvement Program. Through NIRPC he is also a board member for the National Association of Regional Councils, an organization that advocates on behalf of councils of government across the United States. Justin also serves as a board member for the Westville Chamber of Commerce and Leadership LaPorte County. He is an active member of the LaPorte County Better Government Group, South County Community Coalition, and LaCrosse Lions Club. Since 2016 he has served as Vice President of the LaPorte County Solid Waste District’s Citizens Advisory Committee.

In 2016 he was awarded One Region’s Promise of the Future Award.

“Between my work as a councilman and a publisher, I dedicate nearly every day striving to make the communities I serve a better place,” he said. “I am confident that I will be able to make a positive difference for my constituents if elected to the County Council.”

Kiel will continue to serve the Town of LaCrosse during the campaign, stepping down from the Council only if he is successful in the election.